


No Longer Alone

by kouhaha



Category: Kpop - Fandom, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-05 11:57:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11012961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kouhaha/pseuds/kouhaha
Summary: As the head producer of a music company, he had money, he had music, and he had people surrounding him. There was really nothing more that could satisfy him. Even love. For love was the only thing Jihoon never felt the need or want for. Even at 24, the few girlfriends he had never really phased him, and he never really loved any of the them. Not to say that he was heartless, the feeling was mutual. None of them ever really loved him either.-This story is gender inclusive, as I use they instead of her or him. The reader can really insert themselves in the story, despite gender.





	No Longer Alone

As the head producer of a music company, he had money, he had music, and he had people surrounding him. There was really nothing more that could satisfy him. Even love. For love was the only thing Jihoon never felt the need or want for. Even at 24, the few girlfriends he had never really phased him, and he never really _loved_ any of the them. Not to say that he was heartless, the feeling was mutual. None of them ever really _loved_ him either.

               Now they, on the other hand, were a vocal trainer, with the gift of a wonderful voice. A graduate of Seoul National University - The College of Music - with a degree in vocal music, freshly hired to help one of Jihoon’s artists because she was struggling after recovering from a bad cold. They hadn’t really been into the real world aside from a semester of helping at a small music company with their trainees. A person with a passion for music that burned for eternity. They were indecisive and a bit “odd”. They stayed up late watching movies, but woke up early in the morning to write and read and sing and enjoy themselves.

               The apathy Jihoon had towards them was great. Yeah, he had hired them because they were recommended by the university itself. But, as soon as he met them, he couldn’t have cared even one bit. They were clumsy and made tons of mistakes (which Jihoon did NOT tolerate). In fact, Jihoon had yelled at them several times because of the mistakes they made. They accepted the strain Jihoon had set upon them, they wanted - no, needed this job more than anything. It was their dream, their goal, their everything and dealing with an insane producer would just have to be dealt with.

* * *

(first person)

“Come here, what’s with Eunha’s voice? I thought you said she completed her training for now!” Jihoon shouted.

               “Now, what I actually said, was that she was close to completing her training for now. But you didn’t actually listen to me. You were talking to Seungcheol. Don't you remember?” The stress that was radiating off of Jihoon was almost paralyzing. You could see the look in his face that he is having a really rough time, since one of the top performers can’t even sing the way she used to.

               He threw his head back, his hands following the motion and covering his face. Then, in an instant, his hands slammed onto the desk and shuffled papers around, while quickly writing things down.

               “Listen, Y/N, we _have_ to have Eunha prepared to comeback by March. The CEO won’t be very forgiving if we don’t. It’s you and I on this project.” A sigh followed his sort of uplifting motivational line. Though I wouldn’t really like to be stuck with him on the project. We were together on this, whether we liked it or not.

*

               Days passed as we tried to help Eunha reach her full potential after her dreadful cold. She was struggling, both Jihoon and I could see it. It was nearing the holiday season, and long days were spent helping her as much as we could, while long nights were spent between Jihoon and I, figuring out a plan, trying to save our asses and Eunha’s.

               One night was particularly cold, below freezing by a measurable amount, and I was stuck to walk home. After we parted ways, I saw Jihoon out of the corner of my eye, running back towards me. He was shivering, though his face was red from running, and he was trying to catch his breath, but couldn’t because of the dense air.

               “Y/N... wait up,” Jihoon took a large breath, trying to breathe. “Do you..do you need a ride? It’s - hold on,” he stood there, hunched over. After a minute or so, he finally spoke again “It’s pretty cold, do you need a ride? I mean... you don’t have to, I just thought I would offer-”

               “Yes please.” I looked at him, the cold settling in. He just grabbed my arm and lead the way, handing me his scarf. His niceness was odd; I’d never seen this from him. If this was his true self, this is a Jihoon I wanted to see more often.

               Though I have known Jihoon for over a year, I had never really talked to him outside of work, unless it was about work (usually over text or calls, never face to face). In reality, I knew virtually nothing about him. Seeing his car revealed a little about him. It was very nice, probably an Audi? Not exactly sure, I didn’t know cars very well. It was clean, like it was brand new. But, I knew he has had this before I started, seeing as he almost hit me with it my first day on the job. As he drove, he never looked at me, just focused on the road, and sometimes fiddled with the radio, often changing it, especially if he didn’t enjoy the song.

               “Take a right here, then when you hit 30th, take another right, and pull into the side street that has the convenience store on the left.” I told him as he quickly turned the wheel, due to the fact that I didn’t tell him to turn right until right at the turn. He rolled his eyes as we both shifted in our seats.

               The car rolled to a stop in front of the sidewalk entrance of my apartment complex, I quickly thanked him and scurried out. Then, he honked. Why he honked? I had no idea at the time, I was kind of irritated. The car ride was awkward, and then he had the nerve to honk at me. I spun around, his window was rolled down, and all he shouted was “I’ll see you at work tomorrow, Y/N!” Instantly, he smiled, which I had only seen once or twice, like a genuine smile, then drove away.

*

               Here I was, standing in front of Lee Jihoon’s door. Earlier, he had called me because he needed help with arranging the song for Eunha. It had been a few weeks since the car ride, and he has given me rides almost every day, and even has been a lot nicer, friendly almost. But, never did I expect him to rely on me for something like Eunha’s song. I was just her vocal trainer. Maybe he saw me as his work partner? Who actually knew.

               Suddenly, the door opened, a surprised look on Jihoon’s face. “Oh, I had no idea you were here… I – it’s a bit cold, why don’t you come inside.” He was dressed in sweats, compared to his usual jeans and a nice shirt, sometimes a button up. His hair was hidden in a ball cap, and honestly, he looked pretty good.

               “Ok listen, I know you’re just a vocal trainer, but please help me write this song. I needed some help, but you were all I could think of – not that that’s a bad thing – but anyway…” He trailed off when he realized how fast he was speaking and how he was sort of just rambling on. “So, please, Y/N, help me. This song is driving me insane.” Jihoon pulled me along to his study.

               Jihoon’s desk looked like he lived there instead of the rest of the apartment. While the rest of the space was clean, his desk had papers everywhere, some bowls and cups, a blanket on the back of the chair, along with a neck pillow thrown on the floor. I looked at him, and he looked embarrassed about the presentation of his home life. Jihoon was looking towards the floor, and just kind of pushing things off to the side and around on the floor. He grabbed an extra chair from the other room and brought it in for me.

               “So, with this part, does that flow,? Sing it for me please, I need to hear it from someone else besides me or a computer…” He said the words so fast, he was nervous, but I had no idea why. Was it because I was in his home? Someone you’re not exactly friends with being in your space, being this close, has to be a bit uncomfortable.

               I did as told, and as soon as I finished singing the part, he sighed with relief. Jihoon’s shoulders went down and he looked less tensed. He instantly grabbed the paper from me, muttering a small sorry for being so hasty. The pen flew across the paper, writing in more lyrics, fitting notes to some of them. He then looked at me out of the corner of his eye, got up, and left the room. What could Jihoon be doing? Was I distracting? A nuisance? Only a few minutes later, he returned with two mugs filled with tea. He handed one to me, still absolutely wordless, and sat back down and started writing again.

               “Peach tea, one spoonful of sugar, right?” I looked up from my phone, Jihoon wasn’t looking at me whatsoever. I said a weak yes and took a sip of the tea. “Sorry, I kind of brought you here to help me, but after you sang, I thought of some more things to add to the song. To really carry it on, ya know?”

               “Jihoon don’t worry it’s nice to see- “

               “Your voice inspired me.” He butted in. “This song is about love, that’s what the CEO wanted, so I brought you here.”

               Was he hinting at liking me? Was I dead? What was going on?

               “I like you, Y/N.”

               Both of us sat in silence, he refused to look at me, and all I managed to say was “I have to go”. I panicked, I didn’t know what to say. Just a month or two ago, Jihoon wouldn’t give me the time of day. I was confused.

*

               Ever since his unexpected confession, I avoided Jihoon like the plague. I had no idea what to do about it, plus there was only a few days until my holiday break. I could ride out the 3 days I had until Saturday, and then I wouldn’t have to see him again for a week or two. Eventually, I would have to talk to him about it; there was absolutely no way I could avoid it. Plus, it would be so rude just to never address it and leave him hanging.

               At the office, he kind of avoided me too. Did he regret telling me? Or maybe he took back his feelings when he saw how I reacted? We would make eye contact, he wouldn’t even change his face, and then he would look right back down, as if he didn’t even see me, or was trying _not_ to see me. I knew I shouldn’t be feeling this way, seeing as I never replied to his feelings _and_ I was avoiding him as well. It was unfair for me to think these things, but I couldn’t help it.

               Finally, the week ended and I was on break. New Year’s was just a couple days away; I had been invited to the CEO’s New Year’s Eve party. I was pretty excited for it, seeing as I was stressed about Jihoon, I needed a break to relax.  But, I had two days until then, and that gave me so much time to think. I thought about how I felt towards Jihoon. I enjoyed being around him right before he confessed… He was always nice, and treated me with respect, unlike the first year of my working at the company. He was warm. And, just like that, I figured I liked him a little. A small crush. Not a full blown “I love you”, but to the point where I could see myself with him. But, what was I to do about it? He was my co-worker, my superior, he was close to 4 years older than me. We would never be able to work out.

*

               I grabbed a drink off the waiter’s tray, the party was in full swing. I hadn’t see the CEO yet, and most importantly, I hadn’t seen Jihoon. I had been there almost 20 minutes, and though I wasn’t trying to actively avoid him, he was nowhere to be seen.  People kept coming up to me, talking and I really retained nothing they told me. Eunha’s manager came up to me, asking about how Jihoon and I had been doing with her. I answered with very simple answers because my mind was somewhere else. An hour and a half into the party, I locked eyes with him. He was standing in the corner, coolly sipping a drink. As soon as I could, I bolted to the bar. I grabbed a shot of whiskey and downed it. Seeing him after a few weeks kind of stunned me, and this bit of liquid courage gave me the kick I needed. Who knew if I was going to see him again the rest of the party, but I had to be prepared just in case.

               Somehow, I ended upstairs, just wandering around. I’m sure the CEO didn’t mind, and it’s not like he could keep track of all these people anyway. So, me slipping away wouldn’t even cross his mind even if he did see me. I knew that parties did this to me; after drinking a little I would revert back to introverted me and I would wander off and just enjoy my alone time in someone’s house.

               “I would say that you’ve been avoiding me, but that would be contradicting myself.” I looked over my shoulder and saw Jihoon behind me. He looked a bit sad and just as stressed as usual. “Listen, Y/N, I didn’t mean to spring that on you last time…”

               In that moment, I started to panic. My mind couldn’t form words, so I just turned back and stood there. His feet were heavy as he walked towards me. I suspected he had been drinking quite a bit, considering how pungent he smelt. His breathing deepened, I looked back at him and saw slight circles under his eyes.

               “I know how sudden it was, it just felt right at the time. But, now, I regret telling you. I admit, I wanted you to know about my feelings, but since then I haven’t gotten much sleep… I’ve been thinking about how you reacted… and since you never replied I just- “

               “I like you, as well.” His eyes shot open. I held my breath, waiting for him to say something. We stood there, staring at each other, waiting for each other to do something. Jihoon’s face became red and I was forced to break the silence. “Hey…uh…are you okay?” He released the breath that he was holding as well, and started coming towards me. Jihoon wrapped his arms around me and just hummed out of happiness. You could feel the feeling radiating off of him, as if it was what he produced. Never in my year and a half of working at the company, have I seen Jihoon even half as happy as he was now.

               “I was so worried. I regretted telling you, and I knew I didn’t want to feel that way. I never wanted to regret telling you that I liked you but I was worried and I just… I don’t know.” Jihoon said that all in one breath. Not letting himself take a break in between words. His left hand ran over his face in an attempt to calm himself down. Still holding me, he just hugged me for a while.

               From downstairs, you could hear people shouting and starting to count down as it was reaching midnight. Jihoon looked at me, I knew he wanted to kiss me. But, I didn’t think I was ready. So, I reached down, grabbed his head, and kissed him on the cheek. Hoping that would suffice, I pulled away to look at him. Jihoon had the goofiest smile on his face. As happy as can be, he held me just a bit more longer.

*  
_Afterward_

               March rolled around, Eunha was ready. After recording her album and finishing up in February, we recorded her comeback MV successfully, and everything was in place. Jihoon and I planned that we wouldn’t do anything about our relationship “status” until she cameback, and March 17th couldn’t come any faster. Through the four months we had until March, we flirted constantly, we went out on a few dates, and had a good time at work. I enjoyed working with Jihoon when he wasn’t cranky. He was really playful and often would bring me food when I was working with Eunha and he wasn’t doing anything.

               When the day came, we celebrated Eunha’s comeback. Her mini-album was already released in stores, and it was selling rapidly on iTunes. I sat in the back, watching Eunha dance around to her most popular song with a few other artists from the company.

               “Well, now is my chance…” Jihoon slid next to me.

               “Chance to do what?” I side-eyed him, having an idea on what he was doing.

               “Something I have been waiting months to do.” He leaned in and kissed me. Everything felt right, I was happy, so was everyone else in the company. Until I heard several gasps and a few ‘told you something was going on between them’. We pulled away and Jihoon’s face was bright red. He smiled awkwardly and simply said. “Y/N is my (girlfriend/boyfriend/significant other).”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading this!! i just wanted to post it somewhere


End file.
